


A Double-Edged Sword

by BlueMoonVonIdaho



Series: Snapshots from the Spiral [5]
Category: Pirate101 (Video Game)
Genre: Bones is smart but he doesn't get everything right, Catbeard and Avery are only mentioned, Gen, Special Branch's relationship with the pirate is very complex, The Pirate is mentioned but does not actually appear, The pirate is a busy busy person, The pirate is not somebody you want to make an enemy of, as Bones is learning firsthand, ft. some hints about the pirate's backstory, lots of morally gray implications, puzzling together someone's backstory is hard, the entire Marleybone storyline is morally gray let's be real here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueMoonVonIdaho/pseuds/BlueMoonVonIdaho
Summary: Mycroft Bones and Admiral Nelson debate the wisdom of employing Marleybone's newest Irregular Captain.
Series: Snapshots from the Spiral [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1454962
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	A Double-Edged Sword

“How soon do you anticipate the fleet returning to fighting shape?”

Admiral Nelson shook his head. “It’s difficult to say. Our surprise attack on Rooke’s fleet took everything we had. We won’t stand a chance if Valencia mounts another assault.”

“They won’t,” Bones assured him. “Rooke’s destruction alone would have been a staggering blow to their plans. My men tell me the clockworks are fully on the defensive and have retreated to regroup. It’s clear they never expected their gambit to fail so completely.”

“They won’t stay down for long,” Nelson countered. “How much time do you think we have?”

Bones paused to shift a few ship models on the large table in the center of the room. “You have longer than you think, gentlemen. I received some promising new intelligence just this morning. The tide of the war has turned in Marleybone’s favor.”

Admiral Kearns did not look convinced. “And what, exactly, is this intelligence?”

“First, relations between Valencia and MooShu have soured abruptly. Unless Valencia smooths some ruffled feathers very quickly, there won’t be any more flank attacks to worry about.”

A murmur of surprise and relief ran around the table. Marleybone had barely held out while fighting on one front. They never would have survived if they were forced to hold a second. And with the clockworks momentarily withdrawn, it would be a relatively simple matter to push the few remaining forces back to the Valencia stormgate. Once that was done, even the small surviving portion of the fleet could take advantage of the natural choke point.

“Second, a new Resistance has sprung up in Valencia,” Bones continued. “We don’t know their exact capabilities yet, but their work will also hinder Valencia’s war effort. And lest you gentlemen forget, the Armada will be gunning for another target.”

Admiral Doggett harrumphed quietly. “I think you’re being a bit too generous. Even if the girl did destroy Rooke, that’s hardly enough to have the whole Armada on her heels.”

“She also destroyed Beachhead,” Admiral Nelson reminded him.

“And repelled the assault on the Isle of Fetch,” Admiral Kearns added.

Doggett grumbled under his breath. “Even so, Kane and his lackeys are hardly going to abandon their advantage here to throw everything they have at one ship and crew. Not good strategy at all!”

“She also destroyed Deacon,” Mycroft Bones added mildly.

“My point stands, my good man—she _what!?_ ”

Admiral Nelson nodded slowly. “You told us about Deacon’s death months ago. When did you learn she was responsible?”

Bones took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding. “We knew from the beginning. Special Branch has been keeping tabs on her for a long time.”

“Why? And why were we not informed of this?”

“I’m afraid that’s classified, gentlemen. Suffice to say that our gallant Irregular Captain was running errands for Special Branch well before she decided to join the Royal Navy. And to return to the topic at hand, I strongly suspect that once news of Rooke’s destruction reaches Kane, he will divert a significant portion of his resources toward dealing with her.”

Doggett grumbled some more, but did not appear to have any more to say. None of them had risen to their current positions by being fools. If Marleybone had been given so many black eyes so quickly by a single individual—albeit one with a highly loyal crew at her back—all her forces would have been focused on eliminating them as quickly as possible. Kane was no fool. His plan to force Marleybone’s quick surrender was ample proof of that. He would undoubtedly do the same. None of them were going to turn down an advantage like that, not after Marleybone had stood so close to defeat.

“Now, Admiral Kearns, with regards to your preliminary report on the supply ships…”

§§§

The meeting ran late into the evening; by the time it concluded, the Admiralty Building was deserted, save for a few harried clerks trying to deal with the endless stacks of paperwork generated by the inner workings of the army. Anyone who said an army marched on its stomach had never seen how quickly things ground to a halt when the paperwork fell behind, Bones mused with a touch of wry amusement.

He fell into step beside Admiral Nelson. There were a few more matters he needed to discuss that were not meant for prying ears.

Once Bones was certain no one else was within earshot, he spoke up, as casually as if he was making a statement about the weather. “I must thank you for bringing the matter of the Collingwood estate to my attention, by the by. It has shed some light on a highly perplexing subject.”

Nelson needed no more; his head began to shake as he grasped Bones’ meaning. “If you’re planning to try and secure her loyalty from that direction, I’m afraid you’re destined for disappointment.”

“I had ascertained as much myself. Though as I recall, it was you who insisted she be given the commission she wanted, over Admiral Doggett’s well-founded protests.”

“One good turn deserves another, I always say. The clockworks would be hoisting Valencian colors in Regent's Square by now if it wasn't for her. And lest you forget, you were the one who gave the order to withold her commission in the first place--and the one who finally authorized it.”

Bones dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement of the point. “I needed time to make some inquiries. As I mentioned earlier, that captain has some history with Special Branch.” _And not all of it friendly_ , he did not say, though by the look on Nelson's face, he had quickly grasped the implication. Catbeard might have been a highly self-serving individual, but he sang like a bird in exchange for amnesty for his crew. The contents of his confession, however, were highly classified, and would be until well after the war ended.

Nelson’s brow furrowed. “How, if I may ask, has Special Branch coped with this captain over the years?”

“By acknowledging that there’s no point asking her to do something she doesn’t want to do.”

 _Years_ , Nelson said, as though the captain in question needed years to see more adventure than most would encounter in a lifetime. The few men Bones could spare had traced her path from Skull Island through Monquista, Valencia, Cool Ranch, MooShu, and back again, most of it undertaken within the last twelve months. Untangling the impact of her exploits on any one of those worlds could occupy all of Special Branch for that amount of time.

That brought a frown to Nelson’s face. “I’ve seen how easy it is to rile her temper. She’s a useful ally, to be sure, but she’s something of a double-edged sword.”

At last, Nelson laid bare his real concern. Honesty always did make conversations like this easier.

“You saw firsthand what she and her crew did for the war effort.” Bones paused to let a clerk who had briefly abandoned his work to eat some biscuits pass by. “Trying to pin her down would be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“You’re saying that we have no way to stop her.”

“On the contrary, my good Admiral, she can indeed be stopped. But the effort required to do so far outweighs the removal of any threat she might one day pose, especially while Marleybone enjoys the benefits of employing her in the service of Her Majesty.”

“With all due respect, I have a hard time believing she’ll follow anyone for long. She’s a rogue, through and through.”

“Make no mistake, her loyalty is only to Marleybone as far as it serves her own ends.” Mycroft spread his hands in a shrug. “But she’s not without her own code of honor. Once she agrees to a deal, she'll follow through. The trick is to offer something she wants badly enough. Do you really think she would have gone to such extremes if she wasn’t so eager to free her co-conspirator from Glass House?”

Letting Catbeard go had not been an easy choice. His canny mind would be a valuable addition to the pirate’s forces and make her that much harder to deal with if such measures ever became necessary in the future. What ultimately made the decision for him was the knowledge that Marleybone’s position was too tenuous to risk alienating one of their most useful allies.

Admiral Nelson’s frown grew deeper. “She has no love for the Armada.”

“Nor they for her.” Mycroft Bones’s eyes danced with the merry light of someone keeping a secret. “And the enemy of our enemy is our friend.”

It wasn’t so black and white as that, of course, but the captain’s real goal was a secret known only to a select few, even within Special Branch. Why she wanted the Map was still a mystery, but she’d been after it from the beginning. Tracing the path that led from her parents’ deaths to her arrival at Skull Island might provide answers, but so far the efforts of Special Branch’s best agents had turned up nothing. It was as though the girl had vanished into thin air for ten years. Avery was his one and only link to that nebulous time. The old captain definitely knew something Bones and Special Branch didn't, but he wasn't talking.

They reached a door that led out onto the street. As if that was an unspoken signal, all the weariness of the sleepless days and nights spent trying to keep Marleybone alive and fighting came crashing down.

“Farewell for now, Admiral,” Bones exchanged respectful nods with the other Dog, whose own exhaustion showed much more plainly than it had just a moment ago. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”

“And it will be a good morning for once, I hope,” Nelson said, a jovial smile creeping across his face. He set off down the street with a slight spring in his step, despite his obvious exhaustion. Marleybone's darkest hour had passed; his work finally had an end in sight.

Bones’s work, on the other hand, had only just begun. For just a moment, he felt a pang of envy for Nelson. Even with his excellent grasp of the pirate’s—eternally a pirate, though she nominally served the Royal Navy—character, he had no idea who he was dealing with.

**Author's Note:**

> I was rather surprised to learn about the treaty between Valencia and MooShu, especially since the Armada was providing a traitor (General Tso) with weapons. That doesn’t feel like the sort of thing a leader would be very happy about. Unfortunately for Marleybone, it seems to have taken a while for that particular piece of information to reach the right ears.
> 
> Of course, our good captain had no idea she would wind up looking for the map to El Dorado when she started out…but finding Gunn’s treasure and the map piece buried with it so soon after reaching Skull Island would look pretty suspicious from an outsider’s perspective. Especially if the outsider is the type who looks for a reason behind everything.
> 
> I was going through the wiki to make sure I was getting Mycroft's voice right and lo and behold, I came across a piece of dialogue where Avery refers to Mycroft as a friend of his! I am absolutely cackling at the thought of Bones coming to Avery all "look, this could be vital to Marleybone's national security, _where did this pirate of yours come from?"_ and Avery shrugging and saying "I have no clue" in that oh-so-innocent tone of his because he's a troll.


End file.
